Evidence Center · The Crosswalk
The documents you already owe each other ARE the evidence.
Rule 12.285 makes both sides in most money-related family cases exchange these document classes. Litigation platforms teach evidence in the abstract; this page maps each disclosure class to its evidence life — what it commonly proves, the gate it commonly faces first, and the Navigator page that walks the item type. Track the exchange itself in the Disclosure Tracker.
Wired to the law it implements
Retrieved live from the source-locked corpus — never generated.
“must be served on the other party for inspection and copying within 45 days of service of the initial pleading on the respondent.”| Disclosure class | What it commonly proves | First gate it commonly faces | Navigator |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financial affidavitCore | Each party's sworn income, expense, asset, and debt picture — the case's baseline numbers. | Hearsay — it is a sworn statement; at hearing the live testimony behind it commonly carries the weight. | Affidavits & written declarations → |
| Federal & state income tax returns — last 3 yearsIncome | Income history and the income story already told to the government — the comparison exhibit for affidavit numbers. | Completeness — schedules and attachments are where the story lives. | Tax returns → |
| W-2s, 1099s, K-1s for the most recent yearIncome | Employer-reported earnings for the most recent year. | Hearsay — employer records commonly travel the business-records lane. | Pay stubs & wage records → |
| Pay stubs / income evidence — last 3 monthsIncome | Current income, overtime patterns, and deductions — the § 61.30 inputs. | Hearsay — the business-records lane with the right foundation. | Pay stubs & wage records → |
| Loan applications & financial statements — last 12 monthsIncome | The income and asset picture a party claimed when they wanted credit — a second comparison exhibit. | Authentication — whose application, to which lender, when. | Bank & financial records → |
| Deeds and real-estate documents — last 3 yearsAssets | Ownership, titling, and transfers of real property in the marital estate. | Authentication — recorded instruments commonly carry their own official-records showing. | Bank & financial records → |
| Checking account statements — last 3 monthsAssets | Cash flow, spending, transfers, and dissipation claims month by month. | Hearsay — the classic business-records exception, with § 90.902(11)'s certification lane available. | Bank & financial records → |
| Savings/money-market/CD statements — last 12 monthsAssets | Balances and movements in non-checking deposit accounts across the 12-month window. | Hearsay — same business-records lane. | Bank & financial records → |
| Brokerage / investment statements — last 12 monthsAssets | Investment holdings, trades, and values — including accounts that moved during the case. | Completeness — statements beat excerpts; the missing month is the fight. | Bank & financial records → |
| Retirement account statements — most recentAssets | Plan balances and the marital share the equitable-distribution analysis divides. | Hearsay — plan statements commonly travel the business-records lane. | Bank & financial records → |
| Life insurance policiesAssets | Policies, beneficiaries, and cash values in the estate. | Authentication — the insurer's own declaration pages. | Bank & financial records → |
| Health & dental insurance cards / premium proofExpenses | Coverage for the children and the premium figures the support worksheet uses. | Relevance — tied directly to the § 61.30 computation. | Bank & financial records → |
| Business tax returns & records (if 30%+ ownership)Business | The income and value of a party's business interests — commonly the most contested numbers in the case. | Completeness — partial business records invite the adverse-inference fight; valuation itself is expert territory. | Bank & financial records → |
| Credit card statements — last 3 monthsDebts | Spending patterns, debt balances, and who charged what during the marriage and the case. | Hearsay — issuer statements on the business-records lane. | Bank & financial records → |
| Loan statements / promissory notesDebts | Debt balances and payment histories the distribution schedule allocates. | Hearsay — lender records on the business-records lane. | Bank & financial records → |
| Written premarital / marital agreementsClaims | The agreement's terms — and its execution story, which the enforcement fight is about. | Authentication — signatures, dates, and the disclosure exchanged at signing. | Affidavits & written declarations → |
| Trust documents where you are a beneficiary/trusteeClaims | Interests a party holds or benefits from outside their own name. | Relevance — connecting the interest to income or the estate; trust instruments themselves are counsel territory. | Bank & financial records → |
| Certificate of Compliance (Form 12.932)Core | That the exchange itself happened — who produced what, and when. | None commonly — it is the exchange's own receipt, and its absence is the point that gets argued. | Affidavits & written declarations → |
"Commonly" means commonly: what any class proves in YOUR case, and whether it clears its gates, is judgment for counsel and the court. Legal information, not legal advice.